Iran FM slams 'illegal' US sanctions

On Tuesday, the U.S. imposed sanctions on the governor of Iran’s Central Bank

14:12 May 16, 2018Anadolu Agency

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Wednesday decried U.S. sanctions against the governor of Iran’s central bank as “illegal”.

“Like any other of its measures, the U.S. move is illegal and illegitimate in this respect,” the official IRNA news agency quoted Zarif as saying.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on the governor of Iran’s Central Bank, Valiollah Seif and bank official Ali Tarzali, accusing them of covertly funneling money on behalf of Quds Forces, the external arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

The relationship between Europe and the United States should endure differences such as the diplomatic dispute about Iran's nuclear program, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday."Despite all the difficulties that we have these days, the transatlantic relationship is and remains paramount," Merkel told lawmakers."But these transatlantic relationship also must be able to deal with differences in opinion, especially as we can see these days with the withdrawal of the United States from the nuclear deal with Iran," Merkel added.

The sanctions include freezing their assets in the U.S. and prohibiting U.S. companies from doing business with them.

The new sanctions came shortly after the U.S. withdrew earlier this month from a nuclear deal with Iran, with President Donald Trump calling it the “worst deal” he has ever seen.

Under the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers, Tehran was provided billions of dollars in relief from financial sanctions in return for curbing its nuclear program.

Iran said on Wednesday that new sanctions imposed on it by Washington were an attempt to derail efforts to save the 2015 nuclear deal by its remaining signatories following the U.S. withdrawal from the accord.The U.S. Treasury on Tuesday imposed sanctions on Iran's central bank governor, three other individuals and an Iraq-based bank, a week after U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the deal Iran signed with world powers to curb its nuclear programme.Iran has described the sanctions as illegal and has warned that if talks to rescue the accord fail, it would ramp up its nuclear programme to a level more advanced than before."With such destructive measures, the American government is trying to influence the will and decision of the remaining signatories of the JCPOA (nuclear agreement)," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by Fars news agency.British, French and German foreign ministers met in Brussels on Tuesday to see how they can save the nuclear deal without the United States, but appeared hard-pressed over how their companies could continue doing business with Iran once Washington begins to reimpose sanctions.Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the meeting had been a good start, but he wanted to see guarantees materialise.The Europeans and Iranians have now tasked experts to come up with measures quickly and will meet again in Vienna next week.

EU, Iran eye ‘practical solution’ to save nuclear deal

EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said Tuesday the bloc is working with Iran to save the 2015 nuclear accord after the U.S. withdrew from the agreement.Mogherini was speaking at a press conference following talks with her counterparts from Britain, France and Germany, which were signatories to the accord aimed at stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons.She said they had already launched intensive discussions to rescue the agreement, adding they would find some solutions "within weeks"."If we want to save this deal, we know that the sooner we manage to do it, the better and the easier it will be," she said.Mogherini underscored that the EU is committed to “full and effective implementation” of all parts of the deal.While she noted that the EU cannot provide legal and economic guarantees to Iran after the U.S. withdrew from the accord, she noted that the EU and the Iranian side would continue to work "seriously and decisively" to keep investment flowing.Under the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers, Tehran was provided billions of dollars in relief from financial sanctions in return for curbing its nuclear program.Earlier this month, President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the accord, repeatedly calling it the “worst deal” he has ever seen.Trump opted not to extend sanctions relief on Iran ahead of a May 12 deadline, vowing instead to re-impose nuclear-related economic penalties.All of the U.S.' negotiating partners -- the UK, France, Germany, Russia, China and the EU -- agree that maintaining the accord is the best way to reign in Iran's nuclear program.